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Strong valueActiveRoyal Jackpot · $40 · California Lottery
Royal Jackpot: Strong value. A $40 ticket pays back $32.63 on average.
▼ -0.1 pts vs launch#2 of 2 · $40 CA games
▼ -0.1 pts vs launch#2 of 2 · $40 CA games
Royal Jackpot is a $40 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 81.6%, down 0.1 percentage points from the launch value of 81.7%. 3 of the original 5 $15,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 40% of the 15.5M printed tickets have been sold.
81.6%
expected return
1 in 2.43
odds of any win
3 of 5
$15M jackpots left
40%
claimed · 6.1M of 15.5M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 3,770,439 winning tickets still unclaimed.
17 win more than $40
$50 – $400, an actual profit
23 win their money back
a $40 prize, so you break even
60 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 888 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $32.63 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $40 – $400
$24.12 · 60.3% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $40K
$3.25 · 8.1% of price
Jackpots $1M+
$5.26 · 13.1% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
68.4%
Just 7 tickets out of 9.3M carry the $1M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$40 – $400 wins
3,759,945 winning tickets remain in this range: 74% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
40% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Feb 2026.
15.5M
tickets printed
6.1M
tickets claimed · 40%
9.3M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
60%
Tickets left
60%
60% of top prizes remain with 60% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
California Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $40 CA peers
#2 of 2
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
1
40 Years of Play!
83.3%
2
Royal Jackpot
81.6%
Figures from California Lottery published claim data.
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Scratchstats